Why does my car overheat after getting off the freeway

The 98 honda civic only has one cooling fan for the radiator. The other fan is for the airconditioner.

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Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 AT 4:01 PM

KHLOW2008

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For automatic transmission, they work together.

Have you rechecked the coolant level in the radiator and recovery tank? Do it with cold engine

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Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 AT 1:51 PM

KICKJON1985

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I did it this morning before I went anywhere. The radiator was full. The recovery was a bit low but I had to go on the freeway a couple days ago and it almost overheated so the radiator was low so it had been sucking it back in the radiator. But the radiator was full this morning.

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Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 AT 5:52 PM

KICKJON1985

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As for the fan issue, the 1.6 litre engine has the radiator and the condensor seporated. The radiator is on the left and the condensor is on the right. The oil cooler is part of the radiator. This being said, the fan conected to the condensor doesnt run while the one for the radiator does. I have attached a picture from the mechanic book I have of the engine I have. #12 in the picture is the radiator and the condensor is on the right of it under the silver bracket.

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Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 AT 6:07 PM

KHLOW2008

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The system we have over here is different. For manual transmission, the radiator would be as you have in your vehicle but for auto transmission, the radiator spans the entire front and the fans works together.

If the radiator is sucking in the coolant from the recovery tank, that could indicate 2 things.
1. There was air in system and and has since self bled. You would need to monitor and see if the overheating occurs again.

2. There is a leak somewhere and it is using up coolant.

Top up the coolant and monitor the situation for another one or 2 times and aleways note the recovery tank level.

When you performed bleeding of the cooling system, did you turn the heater on?

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Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 AT 8:36 PM

KICKJON1985

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I think that the reason for the coolant level being low is cause the engine got close to over heating the last time I got off the freeway and spewed all the coolant out of the recovery tank on the ground by means of over flowing it. Since then I have filled the radiator, and have been filling the recovery tank slowly to completely fill the system. I have not yet had time, or the money to buy the equipment to pressure test or chemical test the coolant system yet either. One would think that it would be something simple as it worked fine before I changed the radiator. The fan seems to run, but I am curious if its working properly all the time? Is there a way to test this? Or just replace the relay and go from there?

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Thursday, June 28th, 2012 AT 2:07 AM

KICKJON1985

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When I got home today from work I poped the hood and checked to see if the fan was working and it seems to be working as it should. The thermostat would close, the fan will come on, then after the fan shuts off the thermostat opens. I checked this by feeling the pressure and temperature of the upper and lower radiator hoses.

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Thursday, June 28th, 2012 AT 4:44 AM

KHLOW2008

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Did the engine seem to overheat during this trip?
Is the coolant level correct?

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Thursday, June 28th, 2012 AT 8:31 PM

KICKJON1985

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No it didnt, but it seems to be the lenght of the trip on the freeway. The coolant level wasnt low before I left work, but this morning, the coolant recovery tank was low. But I ran it with the heater on to see if maybe it did still have a bubble.

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Thursday, June 28th, 2012 AT 9:18 PM

KHLOW2008

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Seems there could still be some air trapped in the heater system and as overheating did not occur, you would need to monitor the situation further.